A Fairy's Strength
by Zerke
Summary: What truly makes the Wizards at Fairy Tail strong? The answer isn't coming easily for recently-kidnapped Lucy Heartfilia, as she struggles to find her way through weakness, doubt, and love. Longer NaLu fic c:


**PROLOGUE**

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The air was splintered with screams as a certain man made his way through the darkened, ominous hallway. The screams seemed to lift his spirits in a way, as though each blood-curdling wail could somehow fortify his smile. The eery man let the screams guide him in the direction he needed to go, and as he finally reached a large, iron door, his face lit up, seemingly exhilarated that he had reached his destination.

He opened the door to find his lovely little maiden bloody, and badly beaten. Just as she needed to be, if they were to get the correct information out of her. He cracked a wicked smile, and bent down to her level, watching with pleasure as tears began to trail down her bruised up cheeks.

Noticing the newcomers presence, the blonde lashed out at him as best she could, what with her hands being tied to the wall and all. Although it failed to reach him, the blonde smiled as she realized it sure as heck had startled him, and with a new rage filling inside of her, she glowered up at the man, wondering if this was the leader of her captors.

The man's smile faded, only to be replaced with a tight line which solidified his face. He cleared his throat, and began to speak. "Lucy Heartfilia, Celestial Mage at the well-known Fairy Tail guild." he began, smiling again as his opening spurred a slight faction of recognition in the female's eyes. "You're a lucky girl."

Lucy continued to glare up at the man, expression unchanging as he thrusted his grim face closer to hers. "You have been granted the utmost privilege as to inform me how I might be able to fell this mighty "fairy" guild of yours." he smirked.

Lucy's rage began to burn inside of her, and she glowered at the man as she responded rebelliously. "Fairy Tail will NEVER fall to ANYONE." she spat at the foul man, tears still streaming down her face.

"Oh ho!" the man exclaimed, smiling as he gripped the young mage by her bloodied hair, and yanked her to his eye-level. "And what makes you think that?"

"Because unlike you and your men, Fairy Tail wizards ALWAYS stick together! No matter what the cost!" she fired back at him, eyes blazing.

The man laughed. "Stick together you say?" he inquired, chuckling at the thought. For some reason the man found this to be ridiculous. Suddenly, his face turned sour, as though remembering something distasteful. He glared back down at the young blonde mage, and responded with a dark, humorless tone. "The only reason any one ever sticks together, is to USE each other." he insisted.

His comment received a raging cry of disbelief. "That's not true!" Lucy shrieked, straining against her chains in a hopeless struggle against the words. "Fairy Tail wizards aren't like that!"

"Oh really, Lucy?" the man smirked, knowing full well that he was getting somewhere. "Then why is it YOU stick with that boy Natsu?" he asked, watching as his inquiry struck up a flurry of emotions from the young mage. Lucy's eyes widened. How did this man know Natsu? And more importantly, how did he know exactly whose name to pull in order to strike down Lucy's confidence? Lucy couldn't manage to word her concerns, and instead, stuttered something along the lines of "W-We're partners o-of course..!"

The man seemed to brighten at her response, and his grin melted into a purely sadistic smile. "Partners, you say? How could that be, when you're magic can't even come close to his level?" Lucy stared at him as her blood suddenly ran cold. She tried to say something, to retaliate with a harsh retort, but nothing came. There was nothing she really could say.. Because to her, it was all a hundred percent true.

His eyes twinkled in the dark as the man continued. "Lucy, surely you've realized by now why you are .. attracted to Natsu so much?"

"Attracted .." she murmured the word aloud, tasting it's meaning as tears fell from her darkened face yet again. "Natsu .."

The man tensed, letting the tension mount as he prepared to deliver the final blow.

"Yes. Surely you must see that it's because he is the strongest in the guild! Knowing a low-level magic user such as yourself, you probably didn't even realize it when you chose him to protect you.."

Lucy looked up. "Protect.. me..?"

"Of course, my dear." he said, sighing as though he were speaking to a child. "You stick close to him, you USE him, taking everything from him until you no longer need him.." he said, each word falling from his lips intertwined with magic as he entranced the poor child.

Lucy felt her conscious slipping. He was definitely using magic on her, but it was too late to stop him now. _Natsu.._ she thought, picturing his strong-willed smile as she slowly departed, not listening to the man's words anymore, but feeling their effect as he muttered the last few words.

_"..Because you are weak"_

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Here's the first part, enjoy! (:


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